Finger Painting
by Grasshopper-chan
Summary: [oneshot] Little Miyu encounters a strange man on the beach. She catches her first glimpse of eternity. I'm reposting this 'cause it got erased with my account and I didn't notice it was gone until just now.


Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Miyu… but I wouldn't mind owning Larva!!!

A/N: This fic is a mixture of the OVA and the Manga. So, it incorporates aspects of both in both the characters and the situations. In my fic, Larva's eyes are red. In some fics and some of the art I see him with blue eyes, but I like the red ones better.

A little girl no more than five years of age ran swiftly out of her house with a large bag in her small, chubby hands. Her short brown hair flew wildly behind her and her honey amber eyes were lit with excitement. Her mother had allowed her to go to the ocean alone for the first time ever, and she was looking forward to every moment of it. Her grip tightened on the parcel she was holding as she envisioned the pictures she would paint for her father when she got to the sandy beach.

When she arrived at the secluded shore, she was surprised to find that it was completely devoid of people. She was the only one there. With a shrug, the child scanned the area for a nice place to sit and paint. She found her spot and sat down on the soft sand, burying her feet into the soft grains and giggling contentedly at the feel. After a moment of adjusting to her surroundings, she searched through her bag and found a small canvas and a set of paints. She opened the paints and prepared to dip her fingers in them, wonder the whole time what she would paint. She looked around at the beach and saw nothing that captured her interest. After a few long moments of scrutiny and observation, she still couldn't find anything worth painting. Then, she looked out at the sea and gasped. There was a tall, hooded figure standing at the shoreline watching her. What caught her attention were his eyes… they were a red color so vibrant, was certain she had never seen anything like them before. He stood still for a few brief moments before stalking over to the girl, sitting on the beach with paints and canvas. When he reached the child, he knelt down and spoke to her with a gentle tone that allayed her fears of him being anyone to fear.

"What are you painting, little one?" his silky voice and intense gaze made the child blush lightly. She smiled brightly at the man.

"Miyu is painting a picture for Daddy because Daddy likes pictures a lot and Miyu wants Daddy to like Miyu, too," she chirped, grinning up at him. Her grin allowed a good view of her missing teeth. "What's your name, mister?" The man stared at her for a long time and did not answer her. Miyu's smile disappeared and was soon replaced with an adorable pout. The figure's red eyes softened and he finally spoke.

"My name is Larva." Miyu looked up at him with a smile that made her past ones appear dull and lifeless.

"Will you help Miyu find something to paint, Mister Larva?" she asked. Larva smiled sadly and nodded. Miyu began to babble on about random ideas she had and Larva listened half-heartedly. He began to wonder why the Shinma elders sent him to kill this girl. She couldn't possibly be such a threat to their existence; she was just an innocent child. He watched intently as Miyu dipped her fingers into the red paint and brushed across a part of the canvas in an obscure pattern that Larva could not identify as anything he had seen on the beach. He sat and observed the graceful movements of Miyu's fingers as they seemed to dance their way around the canvas until noticed that the random streaks and marks had slowly developed into an image. Larva stared at the vague impression very hard until he saw a face. It was ghostly white and its red eyes were mere slits. There were vertical markings both above and below its eyes; it almost looked like his Shinma markings, but Larva immediately threw the idea out. There was no way that the girl could have known about them. He had made sure that they were well hidden.

"Miyu, what are you painting?" he asked her, just to be on the safe side. Miyu stopped painting and shot him a confused glance before turning to her picture and examining it.

"It was supposed to be you, Mister Larva. Guess it don't look much like you…" the girl mumbled softly in reply. It was clear to the Western Shinma that she really had no idea what she had done, and that he had hurt her feelings.

"No, Miyu. It's very good… I just thought it looked a little different from me." He watched the girl for her reaction and relaxed as she blushed and smiled at him.

"Miyu thought you'd look even more pretty if you had those marks, so Miyu added them to your mask."

"Mask?" he inquired without thinking.

"Miyu has made a mask for you so that if you ever need to cover your pretty face, it will be with this pretty mask and Miyu will know it's you." Larva remained silent, not quite trusting his voice. He knew very well that Shinma wore masks when they became slaves to another. He was also very worried about Miyu's innocent reference to his face being hidden from her by such a mask. It would be a disgrace, yet Larva could not bring himself to despise the prospect of wearing such a beautiful veil. He was cut off from his dangerous train of thought by Miyu's sweet voice.

"Well, Miyu really should be going now or my mommy and daddy will worried," she informed him cheerfully. Larva looked up and realized that Miyu had already put away her paint set and was standing in front of him with her bag in her hands. Larva nodded and stood as well.

"Very well, little one. It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss Miyu," he said gently and smirked when the young child blushed prettily.

"I-it was nice to meet you to, mister Larva," she replied in suit, bowing respectfully before turning and running toward her house. Larva watched as she scurried away, slightly dismayed that she had left so soon. He sighed dejectedly, wondering if he would be able to fulfill his duty and end her life; he had already grown fond of the child and knew he couldn't kill someone s sweet and innocent. Either way, he was going to be in Japan much longer than he had expected.

Miyu quickened her pace as she saw her house come into view. She was so excited about showing her parents her finger painting. She knew that she couldn't tell them about Larva because they would surely prevent her from returning to the beach ever again and she didn't want that. She wanted to be able to see him again. She entered the house excitedly and her mother came out of the kitchen to greet her, asking her what she did at the beach.

"Miyu painted a picture for Mommy and Daddy, but Miyu likes the picture now and wants to keep it," she answered, pulling the canvas out of the bag and showing it to her mother, who stared at it blankly. "It is a mask. Miyu painted a mask."

"Really, Miyu? Well, it's a very nice mask and I'm sure that whoever wears it will be very happy," her mother replied, not fully realizing what she had said to her daughter.

"Really?" Miyu cried, her face full of joy. Her mother smiled and nodded. Miyu ran to her room and set the finger painting on her shelf, smiling at it for a moment before her mother and father called for her to join them for dinner. She ran to the door of her room and looked back at her painting before stepping out and closing the door behind her, all the while thinking _'Larva will be happy…'_

**_Owari…?_**

Please r/r and no flames. Any flames you send me will be used to send Larva into the darkness, and no one wants that right ?


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